Wrapping things up

Tomorrow is my last day of work at International IDEA with the Constitution Building Process Team. Over the summer, I have learned a great deal about constitution building, Sweden, comparative legal studies, and myself. This summer has gone by very quickly. And yet, I have done a lot of projects in this time, including work on the handouts for the training curriculum, on the handbook, and on the South-South Dialogue. I have met people from all over the world, including from Malaysia, Cameroon, and Chile.

Working with IDEA has bolstered my faith that the people of the world can cooperate and work towards the common good. This probably sounds very idealistic. To be sure, IDEA has its problems. But it also has amazing potential. If people from such diverse backgrounds can work together to achieve great things in the pursuit of democracy and human rights, then it is possible to implement this in the rest of the world, right?

I fly back to Virginia on Thursday. And classes start back up on Monday. It's going to be a very quick transitional period, but I think it will be good not to have too much down time. I don't like to be bored and it's good to keep up my work pace in preparation for school. Hopefully, it will not be too outrageously hot in Williamsburg. I have pretty much no tolerance for heat after this mild Swedish summer!

I would recommend an internship with the CBP team in IDEA to any law students interested in post-conflict constitution building and/or conparative legal systems. Not only can you learn an amazing amount from the research, projects, and other team members, but you are part of an organization that really has a community atmosphere. There is always someone to eat lunch with, and lunch conversations are rich and amusing. On top of all this, you get to spend time in Stockholm and learn about Sweden. I have very much enjoyed my time at IDEA. I'll miss it when I leave and return to Williamsburg. At the same time, I am excited about starting my final year of law school and seeing what the "real world" holds for me after graduation and the Bar Exam.